Summary

Edgar, Rolph's son, gives Brian a sketch Rolph drew of Brian, as well as a letter. Edgar was meant to deliver them a while ago, but forgot. Edgar laments his father's "unfortunate, but deserved, passing" (14).

In the letter, Rolph says he is "about to lay some heavy truth" on Brian (14).

Thirty years prior, he discovered something that has "been eating away" at him (14). He has never told anyone. When Rolph was a restless teenager, he decided to "climb up the Egress Spout" (14). He wanted to witness some of what they had been taught about Above in Geography class. After climbing for almost an hour, his head hit a "ceiling of rock" (14). He realized the Egress Spout goes nowhere. The Spout is merely a tunnel that ends at the rock ceiling. To his horror, he found Above filled with the bodies of everyone who...